Stalking a Fox
by ViolatorLoneWolf
Summary: Read about Gaara's adventure to find his beloved Naruto! The mysterious shadow is revealed!
1. Chapter Zero

0.  
  
He'd always felt...out of place. No, something more than that...something deeper. A hand flittered across his mouth absently wiping drops of sweat that had accumulated on his upper lip. It related back to childhood which at the moment seemed a far off dream.  
  
A dream that remind him of the fairy tales he had read when he was young. One had been about a beautiful prince destined to be saved by his future bride. He had been a beast. Perhaps, Gaara thought himself that way. He was a prince who had yet to be saved from his current beastly, demonic form. A sigh rose from his lips and into the hot desert air.  
  
Well, he supposed that he would have to be the one to look. Some people just didn't leave the house these days. Another breath left his lips as he stood up. Well, if he didn't want to scare his princess, it would be best to start at the worst place he'd yet to correct. Glancing down at himself, he groaned and headed back towards the Sand village. 


	2. Chapter One

1.  
  
Gaara had never really believed in miracles. He'd never believed in prayer either, though most of the population in the Sand did. He stared into the closet before closing the door. It would be as good a time as any to start. He prayed. And for a miracle no less. A miracle that obviously didn't come when he reopened the door to the closet. He sighed and took out the only thing left in what used to be his room.  
  
The material was scratchy, tight and highly uncomfortable. Honesty, he had nothing against the color, but well...it really didn't suit his skin tone. He pushed the front down a bit and stared at his reflection in the glass vase. He looked fat. A sigh followed by the brief closure of eyes. It would just have to do for now. He had nothing in his closet and though he wasn't quite sure how this had ended up there, it was a step up from his old clothes. Those had been caked in dirt, sweat, and blood (not his, mind you) from the mission he had been on for the past few months. They certainly weren't the type of thing you asked anyone out in, or visited in.  
  
Of course, he could have waited for either of his siblings to return from the mission they had just finished but...Okay, he didn't want to wait. It would take at least another week for them to get back and he really would like to reach the Leaf before then. He flattened the hair on the top of his head and stared at his reflection again. Pink was just a...it just sucked. Pink sucked.  
  
The dress came just above his ankles showing off his blue zori underneath. The top had two straps that wrapped themselves over his shoulders. It probably would have looked good on him if he was a girl. But he wasn't.  
  
No use complaining about it though. He didn't have any money and he didn't like to shop anyway. Besides, it was how you wore the clothes not what they looked like. At least that was what Temari said the last time he had gotten a new shirt. He promptly slammed the door to his room in her face as retaliation to the 'compliment'. 


	3. Chapter Two

2.  
  
Obviously Sand village didn't know fashion when they saw it. As he had walked towards the exit heading East, beyond which laid the desert and then Fire country, people had simply stopped and stared at him. Something between horror and pity had crossed their faces before he'd simply squashed three and injured seven. Honestly, if they had just said something rather than make faces, they might've lived...Maybe.  
  
No use apologizing to the slaughtered cow, now. Thick waves from the sun bore down on him and on the sand. Normally, he would've carried his sand gourd on his back, but not today. One, it was too hot. Two, it would get his new clothes all sandy, not that they weren't already. Three, he didn't feel like it. Sand followed him wherever he went anyway and if it couldn't be found, he could make it.  
  
Minutes after pondering his latest predicament an uncomfortable feeling crawled up his spine and settled in his stomach. Stopping next to a particularly large sand dune, Gaara turned and squinted off into the distance around him. No one was in sight. Letting out a soft hum, he raised the pink atrocity he was wearing (commonly known as a dress) and let loose on the sand. The fluid hissed into air seconds after it landed, evaporating quite nicely. When finished the pink dress was placed in the original position and he continued on with his journey.  
  
Ah, and what a beautiful journey it was. NOT. If he could have been born in any village, it certainly wouldn't have been the Sand. What was the point in belonging to a village that barely survived in the desert? Not only that, but look how desperate they had been to create Gaara. Most ninjas took pride in where they had been raised and trained, and then of course, there were the ones who hated their village. Normally, if one no longer wanted to be one of his village's ninjas, he just left. While he certainly would have been proud to leave the nasty little pit behind, it was also realistic to assume that he would not be left alone. What people couldn't control, they destroyed. What people didn't understand, they destroyed. What could be used against them, which had once belonged to them, they destroyed.  
  
He honestly couldn't assume that they would leave him to do what he wanted as long as the Sand existed. Certainly that was a disaster just waiting to happen.  
  
Stopping for the second time that day, Gaara stared at the trees that seemed like mere toothpicks in the distance. It had taken a shorter time than expected to reach the Fire country, something he was silently glad about. 


	4. Chapter Three

3.  
  
Day was just fading into night when he entered the Leaf village. This in itself was a good thing since the streets were much quieter than the last time he had entered, that and less populated. Here no one stopped to gawk at the pale, skinny boy known as Gaara who walked around in a pink (hideously so) strapped dress (that made him look fat, no less) with clashing blue zori. In all honestly, there was probably no one to do so. Most villages, when unbalanced, would have to bluff to make sure not to lose standing with other villages. Accepting missions, signing treaties and repairing damages would have to occur all at the same time so not to show weakness. Glancing around at the lack of activity for this early in the evening was proving to him that the Leaf's downfall was underway.  
  
Yet there was one thing that seemed amiss in the cold (and lonely) night that absolutely refused to be overlooked.  
  
"IRUKA-SENSEI!"  
  
Thunderous footsteps pounded down on the clay rooftop that was just barely above his head. The voice was recognizable, though he wasn't clear if it really did belong to his princess.  
  
"WAIT!!! IRUKA-SENSEI!!!"  
  
A loud clang filled the coming night as the person above him leapt from the roof and onto the pavement below. An orange jacket flashed into sight briefly before turning the corner at the end of the road.  
  
Gaara's breathe left him and for a moment he felt as though he might...might what? There had been a few times in his life that he had blacked out but certainly just the mere sight of Naruto could not cause that, could it?  
  
His heart thrummed widely at the thought. Was this what it was like...to feel love? Taking several steps forward in a near run, his progress was halted as his knees gave out underneath him. Collapsing into the protective sand that was instantly drawn from the ground, a single word filtered out from his lips.  
  
"Naruto..."  
  
He should have taken another breath after the last one had left him, but no...he had been so caught up in his thoughts that even his body did not think to do it automatically. Adding insult to injury, the pink monstrosity that he was currently wearing was more than likely ruined. What would his dear and beloved Naruto think when he showed up just as filthy as he had before he had put on this clean garment?  
  
Taking a deep breath, Gaara's eyes slid across the ground in front of him to the way that Naruto, or who he presumed to be Naruto, went. His hands balled fists as a flashback of moments earlier hit.  
  
Flash back  
  
"IRUKA-SENSEI!"  
  
Thunderous footsteps pounded down on the clay rooftop that was just barely above his head. The voice was recognizable, though he wasn't clear if it really did belong to his princess.  
  
"WAIT!!! IRUKA-SENSEI!!!"  
  
A loud clang filled the coming night as the person above him leapt from the roof and onto the pavement below. An orange jacket flashed into sight briefly before turning the corner at the end of the road.  
  
End flash back  
  
Naruto was probably already too far gone for Gaara to even follow him now. Never mind that he could potentially use Daisan no Me and send the eye of sand to look for Naruto, that was far too unoriginal. Besides, he might find things that were not worth looking at.  
  
Flashback  
  
Gaara slid his right (not your right) hand into his eye and held there as he concentrated. Particles of sand flowed from the ground gathering into a sphere that would soon be used as a moving eye. Seconds passed, the jutsu was completed, and off the small eye of sand went.  
  
The door to the hall was shut but that did not prevent the sand eye from escaping out the only window of Gaara's room. It slid past the curtains and out onto the ledge of the house he shared with his siblings, Temari and Kankurou. Speaking of them...the eye flittered past dark rooms down to the other end of the house where another window was currently open. Hovering at the edge of a ledge, the pupil widened as it took in what it saw.  
  
End flashback  
  
Yes, Gaara thought to himself, that jutsu could never be used again if he was to keep his sanity. Shaking away the horrific memory that pulsed through his mind, he failed to notice the shadow slowly creeping along the ground and up his back. 


	5. Chapter Four

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, kay?  
  
4.  
  
"Oi, young ladies shouldn't be hanging around by themselves at night! Don't you have someplace to be right now?"  
  
The voice that spoke to him was deep and aged, not as though it were an old man but more of a man that was just hitting his prime. Turning his head only the slightest bit to the right, Gaara watched the blacked figure from the corner of his eye. He could just barely make out the stranger's hand heading straight for his shoulder. Responding without any conscious thought, his body spun him to face the unnamed assailant. Crouched down on his legs, the pink dress scrapping the ground underneath him, Gaara was tempted to let out a snarl. Grains of sand from earlier fluttered into the air awaiting his commands.  
  
The man stopped and pulled back his arm before rubbing the bottom of his hairless chin. Behind him white hair was spiked out messily and most of it was gathered roughly in what seemed to be a ponytail. Red stripes began at this stranger's eyes and flowed down to the end of his face. The clothes he wore did not look like those of a shinobi but they were still functional.  
  
Gaara's eyes narrowed at the man as he stared back at him. As though giving up on something, the newcomer let out sigh as he closed his eyes. The hand he had rubbed against his chin now moved to the back of his head and began scratching while he mumbled to himself.  
  
"Just my luck, another brat. She hasn't even developed a good rack yet, geeze. A guy can't even get a break around here."  
  
Wondering if he should crush this man and forget the unpleasant things he had just heard, Gaara watched as the man reopened his eyes.  
  
"Alright now, young lady! I, the legendary Jiraiya-sama, one of the three great Sennins of the Leaf , a man whom no woman can resist, shall help you find your way! There's nothing to fear as I am now here!"  
  
As the white haired man said these things, he struck a pose allowing both palms to face Gaara. A smirk curled around the edges of his mouth in a daring way that reminded the scarlet haired boy of someone else. Not that it mattered; this man was nothing like Naruto...in his perspective at least.  
  
Now feeling slightly disturbed, Gaara slowly rose to the extent of his height and turned towards the way Naruto had gone. Surely this man would take the hint and leave him to his own devices. It wasn't as though he needed any help to find his beloved princess; after all, he was a Sand shinobi. Besides, how much help could that man be if his eyesight was so poor that he mistook Gaara for a girl?  
  
Sending a quick glance back to check on the disturbed man, he was surprised to find nothing but an empty road left in his wake. Giving a mental shrug, his eyes returned to the front only to widen at the sight of the same man crossing his arms with annoyance. Some feet behind the stranger, a lamppost flickered on and illuminated the street. Winking brightly, Gaara's attention was drawn to the man's forehead protector.  
  
The leaf symbol didn't look like that...  
  
"Look brat, this area ain't safe. Now tell me your address and let's get going. I don't have all night."  
  
Ignoring the man's comments, Gaara spoke steadily watching for any sudden movement.  
  
"Why are you in the Leaf Village? You don't belong here."  
  
The man frowned as his forehead crinkled.  
  
"Weren't you listening earlier? 'Jiraiya-sama, legendary Leaf Sennin'."  
  
Gaara stared.  
  
"Don't they teach you kids anything these days!?" The man snapped. "That's it! Who's your instructor?! I want a word with them!"  
  
Instructor?  
  
Gaara paused. He couldn't very well tell this man that he didn't belong to the Leaf after questioning his loyalties...but he didn't know any names of the Leaf jounins either. Without really considering it a whole lot, a name popped out.  
  
"Iruka-sensei."  
  
"A HA! Now we're gettin' somewhere! Wouldn't surprise me if Naruto was taught by idiot! Not bothering to teach you brats about the important shit...I'm going to have to straighten him out..."  
  
So this 'Jiraiya' knew his princess? Then that would make it easier to find Naruto, wouldn't it? In fact, the man might be able to take him to him right now...  
  
"...then we'll see what's what! That idiot won't teach another class without mentioning my name-"  
  
"You know Naruto?"  
  
Gaara's voice broke through the other man's rant and forced him to halt the play acting he had been immersed in only second's before. Lifting one arm from the imaginary "Iruka's" throat, Jiraiya scratched his cheek.  
  
"I guess I do, why?"  
  
"I need you to take me to him."  
  
The man's eyebrow rose a full inch and a frown crossed his features, before he waved his hand.  
  
"No way, kid. I'm not tracking him down again. You want him, you find him. Try that Ramen stand he loves so much. If he ain't there, then you're out of luck. See ya arou-"  
  
"He's with Iruka right now."  
  
It wasn't that much of a lie, just a stretch of the truth. Naruto had said 'Iruka-sensei' only minutes beforehand...which implied that he saw him at the very least.  
  
Casting a suspicious glance at him, Jiraiya's mouth curled into a smirk.  
  
"Alright then, you got a deal. Let's find Naruto." 


End file.
